The invention relates generally to data transmission and more specifically to a method and system for transmitting data from a remote location to a desired device with predetermined transmission parameters.
There are many situations in which it is desirable to transmit data from a remote location in a predetermined manner. For example, when a decision maker, i.e. an expert, requires visual information from a remote worksite to render an informed decision. One such situation relates to parts replacement. Many part suppliers possess the information for rendering decisions related to parts that are part of a larger machinery or other apparatus. It is often inefficient to bring supplier personnel to the worksite or to take the machinery to the supplier. For example, in the case of the plumbing industry, the conventional practice is to send a plumber to a worksite to ascertain the location of a problem. If a damaged part is located, the plumber will often have to remove the damaged part and take it to a plumbing supplier to identify the part, determine its price, and order the part. Of course, this requires a great deal of time and thus is expensive. Further, it often requires that the affected portion of the plumbing system be shut off for an extended period while the damaged part is transported to the supplier location and identified. Similar situations arise in the repair of various machinery and systems.
Additionally, it is often desirable to transmit data from a remote location to a desired device, or plural devices, in a predetermined manner and under predetermined conditions. Further, depending on the transmittal data, it is often desirable to provide return data or control signals to remote devices to remedy a situation or other wise control actions at the remote location.
It is of course known to take photographs as visual information to assist a decision maker located at a remote location. However, the use of conventional photography still requires transportation of the photograph. Further, if additional visual information is required, additional photographs must be taken and transported. Some of the limitations of the use of conventional photography have been addressed by electronic devices such as teleconferencing systems, digital photography and the use of electronic mail (email), and other recent communications technology. U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,005 discloses an image transfer system which captures images in a portable camera and sends the images to a computer memory over a wireless connection. However, the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,005 merely directs image data to another node and requires that the recipient device be identified and located manually, such as by entering a phone number or an email address.
Known systems require an expert reviewer to be available at a predesignated computer terminal or teleconferencing center or the like and require a great deal of configuration to direct the visual data to the proper location for viewing by the expert. Also, known systems fail to provide a flexible information delivery system that can be delivered as a service to various subscribers and controlled in a dynamic manner from a central device or various distributed devices. Finally, known systems merely expedite the delivery of visual data but do not aid in the decision making process, control decision making activity, or leverage the collection of visual data or the decisions made thereon.